1. Field of the Invention
The system of the present invention relates to the cooking of food. More particularly, the system of the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for cooking dried food stuffs in a microwave and more particularly for cooking dried raw flour into a "roux" while not allowing the flour to scorch or burn during the process.
2. General Background
It is well known in the cooking art that one of the traditional dishes served in the "Cajun" retinue of food is the famous andouille, shrimp gumbo or stew. These types of dishes require that the base of the food prepared be from a "roux" which is, in most cases, a dark, brown, tasty base made by "burning" flour in a pan in a slight amount of grease. Heat is applied to the flour within the pan, and after constant stirring, the white flour turns a dark golden brown and the roux is thus prepared. From that base, the gumbo is made by simply adding water and seasoning to the roux for obtaining the liquid portion of the gumbo.
As is readily seen in the preparation of such a roux product, the roux prepared is very greasy and has a significant amount of fat within the roux base which adds to the fat content of the gumbo or stew. It would be beneficial to prepare a roux base which may contain less or no fat, and could be prepared well in advance of the gumbo and perhaps stored for further use.
In terms of a system or method for accomplishing this end, there have been several patents granted which address the use of apparatuses for cooking food stuffs, the most pertinent being as follows:
______________________________________ Patent No Inventor Patent Title ______________________________________ 4,395,133 Clevenholm "Cooking Apparatus Having a Stirring Device" 3,920,228 Klauk "Scraping and Stirring Device For a Cooking Utensil" 1,185,856 Talbert "Peanut Roasting Machine" 3,682,091 Bredeson "Rendering Cooker" 3,884,213 Smith "Cooking Apparatus" 3,005,399 Libson "Food Mixing Apparatus" ______________________________________